The recently appointed chairman of Dunedin City Holdings Ltd (DCHL) said he was excited to fill the boots of his predecessor, Keith Cooper, who concluded his nine-year tenure in February.
DCHL is an organisation that oversees the finances and sustainability of eight companies it owns on behalf of the Dunedin City Council.
These subsidiaries include Aurora Energy, City Forests, Delta Utility Services, Dunedin Railways, Dunedin Venues, Dunedin City Treasury and Forsyth Barr Stadium along with a 50% shareholding in Dunedin Airport.
Mr Loan said both DCHL and the airport were keen to see international flights direct to Dunedin return to the airport, and it was something both groups were working towards together.
With Dunedin fans flocking in their thousands to see Pink perform at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Tuesday night, the city could also expect to see more international performers coming this way, Mr Loan said.
"I think the current management has done a fantastic job in getting acts and other events into Dunedin.
"We just need to ensure that we’re doing all that we can, as the holding company, to enable them to continue to do that.
"We’re not going to get every act and that’s just the way it is — show business can be a fickle industry — but I think that we have a great track record of getting events into the city and we’ve got a great city to show off to the world.
"[Pink] was just a classic example of that being executed extremely well and great to see the way the whole city got out behind it."
Mr Loan said DCHL had a responsibility to ensure the best outcomes for the collection of council-controlled companies under its watch.
Each company brought revenue to Dunedin in its own way with some of them being "critically important" assets to the city
"The principles are that the board, or that collection of companies, are sort of there to serve the city and its ratepayers.
"What we’re looking to try and achieve is a sustainable revenue stream from that group of companies for the city and to provide other benefits to the city."
While DCHL was satisfied with the performance of its companies, there was always room for improvement, he said.
It was important to spend an appropriate amount of time getting involved one on one with each entity, on an ongoing basis, and communication with the council itself was also key.
Mr Loan said the organisation had received really good support from the council and had a very positive and co-operative relationship with it.
By streamlining communication both ways, he hoped to see an increased and improved return to the city from the council-controlled companies.
"These are entities owned ultimately by the ratepayers and they need to be providing a suitable return to outcome for the ratepayers.
"To see that increase over time, that would be my goal."
